What’s Happening in Space Policy July 24-30, 2022
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week of July 24-30, 2022 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
China Launches Second Module for Tiangong-3 Space Station
China launched the second of three modules for its Tiangong-3 space station early this morning EDT. Named Wentian, it is one of two laboratory modules that together with the Tianhe core module launched last year will comprise the approximately 70 Metric Ton space station. Still small compared to the 420 MT International Space Station, it nonetheless is a significant step forward for China’s human spaceflight program.
Last Updated: Jul 24, 2022 11:11 pm ET
NASA Safety Panel Worries if ISS Successor Will Be Ready in Time
NASA’s Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel warned this week that NASA’s effort to get the private sector to build commercial space stations to replace the International Space Station is on a “precarious trajectory.” At the same time, ISS is “feeling its age” and coping with greatly increased warnings about potential collisions with space debris, especially from Russia’s antisatellite test.
Last Updated: Jul 23, 2022 10:16 pm ET
Latest NASA Authorization Bill Supports Artemis, But Omits Cantwell’s HLS Provision
The revised version of the NASA authorization bill being considered by the Senate right now is quite different from what passed previously. For example, although it still strongly supports the Artemis initiative to return humans to the Moon, it no longer authorizes $10 billion over the next five years for a second Human Landing System. Now part of the CHIPS+ bill, it could pass the Senate before the August recess.
Last Updated: Jul 23, 2022 2:43 pm ET
Artemis I Now Has a Launch Date, Albeit Tentative
NASA is targeting three days at the end of August and early September for the first launch of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft — Artemis I. Officials stressed today the dates are tentative, but it is at least a marker for when the system, years late and billions over budget, might finally make its first flight.
Last Updated: Jul 20, 2022 11:31 pm ET
What’s Happening in Space Policy July 17-24, 2022
Here is SpacePolicyOnline.com’s list of space policy events for the week plus a day of July 17-24, 2022 and any insight we can offer about them. The House and Senate are in session this week.
Last Updated: Jul 17, 2022 6:10 pm ET
Rogozin Out, Seat Swaps In
Today saw two big announcements affecting U.S.-Russian International Space Station cooperation. First came the news that Dmitry Rogozin, the vituperative head of Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, was removed from his job. Then NASA issued a statement confirming that at long last it had reached a seat-swap agreement with Roscosmos where U.S. astronauts will launch to ISS on Russian spacecraft and Russian cosmonauts on U.S. spacecraft on a no-exchange-of-funds basis. It is not clear whether the two are related or coincidental.
Last Updated: Jul 17, 2022 8:33 am ET
“Thrilled and Relieved” as JWST Gets Down to Work
NASA astrophysicist and Nobel Prize winner John Mather is “thrilled and relieved” with the images and data coming from the James Webb Space Telescope. Often heralded as the “father” of NASA’s newest great observatory, Mather has been with the project from the beginning in 1995. His sentiments undoubtedly are shared by the hundreds of scientists, engineers, technicians, managers, lobbyists and politicians who stuck with JWST over the decades and now see the fruits of their resolve, including more images released today.
Last Updated: Jul 15, 2022 2:57 am ET
JWST’s Dazzling Images Whet the Appetite for More
Today’s release of more images and data from the James Webb Space Telescope did not disappoint. The dazzling views of the universe are just the beginning of what JWST will reveal as it begins 20 years of operation.
Last Updated: Jul 13, 2022 12:05 am ET
JWST Big Reveal Begins at White House As Biden Touts U.S. Prowess, International Cooperation
The first science-quality image from the James Webb Space Telescope was revealed by President Joe Biden at the White House today. More will follow tomorrow during briefings at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, but this one certainly met NASA’s goal of getting a “wow” reaction. The stunning image shows galaxies that formed 13 billion years ago as magnified by galaxy cluster SMACS 0723, a natural gravitational lens. After years of delays and billions in overruns, the U.S.-European-Canadian space telescope is finally showing what it can do.